December 6, 2004
Veera Prateepchaikul
Lee Kuan Yew, the former Singaporean prime minister, made a valid point in
his address to the CEO Dialogue forum in Bangkok last week when he called on
moderate Muslims to help in containing Islamic extremism and terrorism.
He identified moderate Muslims as Muslims who believe in the modern world and
who have no objection to modernity. But he also noted that a large number of
moderate Muslims were still sympathetic towards the extremists because of
their antipathy towards the United States.
Mr Lee's view of the importance of the role of moderate Muslims in the
struggle against Islamic radicalism and terrorism was earlier explored by Goh
Chok Tong, Mr Lee's successor as prime minister and now Singapore's senior
minister, and several anti-terrorist experts. Mr Goh also suggested that
Malaysia and Indonesia both had the potential to take the lead in the
ideological fight to offer an alternative interpretation of Islam to the
radical understanding.
Unfortunately, not a single moderate Muslim country has taken the initiative
to counter the radicals who have so successfully poisoned the young minds of
Muslims, including those in the three southern border provinces of Thailand,
with the extremist brand of Islam through their madrasahs or religious
schools.
Even the respectable Muslim community and religious leaders have yet to break
their silence to condemn the atrocities committed against their Muslim
brethren and non-Muslims by the misguided militants with the same ferocity
that they did the state officials after the Tak Bai and Krue Se tragedies.
Perhaps it will take more time before they realise that Islamic radicalism and
terrorism are a threat to all religious faiths, Islam included.
While distrust and suspicion of state officials among our Muslim brethren in
the deep South remain strong after the double tragedies of Tak Bai and the
Krue Se mosque, it is imperative that the officials be cautious with any
initiatives that they introduce to the region, especially any that could be
mistaken by Muslims as an act of harassment or persecution.
The new security law proposed to the government by the police is an example of
how an initiative intended to give law enforcement officers greater power to
deal with terrorism in the deep South could provoke widespread
misunderstanding and resentment among the people there.
The suggestion in the proposed legislation on empowering the police to hold a
suspect in police detention for seven days instead of the 48 hours in force
elsewhere around the country and the power to search any premises at any time
right around the clock without the need for a search warrant are both seen as
an encroachment on the rights of the individual.
Although some of the measures proposed would seem to make sense, there is some
question of whether a new security law is even needed for the deep South. Are
the existing laws, including the martial law, so inadequate in dealing with
the unrest? Or does the real problem lie with their enforcement or the
ineffectiveness of police to use them to their full extent?
The government must exercise extreme caution in considering this proposed law.
Its officers must have an open mind and welcome the opinions of all interested
parties, especially the people from the three southern provinces who will be
directly affected. If history teaches us anything at all it should be that
abuses by the police are largely to blame for the mistrust and resentment of
the state and its officers now so prevalent among our Muslim brethren.
The prospect of a suspect being locked behind bars in a police cell for seven
days or the police banging on the door of a private house and rousing the
occupants from their beds in the dead of night is dreadful. Quite clearly, it
will be profoundly unwelcome among people with long and bitter dealings with
state officials.
Other options must be explored to deal with the unrest before risking the
backlash that could be expected from the enforcement of a new security law.
Veera Prateepchaikul is Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Post Publishing Co Ltd.